Contents tagged with TechNet

Forward-thinking companies continue to grapple with the realities of moving to the cloud. For every benefit comes a concern, for every answer a question. There are myriad considerations to resolve before actually pulling the plug on local storage and local hosting. Is cloud-based e-mail secure? How will I control access? Will I have access to e-mail archives? What happens if the hosting provider goes out of business or suffers a catastrophic failure? What’s my back-up plan? Read more…Software Licensing: Track Software Usage with MAP Toolkit 5.0Tracking software usage for large enterprise customers can be a challenge. This new tool helps provide more accurate assessments.

TechNet Subscriptions is tailored to fit the needs of your IT environment for every organization. There are three different products that are geared towards different roles and organizational needs whether you are evaluating, testing, or deploying Microsoft software. Microsoft® TechNet Subscription Standard: Tailored to help IT Professionals evaluate, test, and troubleshoot Microsoft software for desktop environments. TechNet Standard does not include some enterprise editions of Microsoft software. Microsoft® TechNet Subscription Professional: Geared towards IT Professionals who need a more comprehensive subscription and are primarily focused on supporting enterprise wide environments such as the following scenarios: server consolidation, interoperability, network management and more. Microsoft® TechNet Subscription Professional with Media: Offers the same benefits as TechNet Professional, but is geared towards those organizations with bandwidth constraints and/or prefer a DVD copy of software.

As the threat landscape evolves, so too do the security features and functions designed to defeat the latest virus or hacking technique. We start this month giving you an overview and insider's view of the security features and functions of Windows 7 and how best to deploy SharePoint in as secure a fashion as possible.

Data Protection: Backup Basics in Windows Server 2008 R2By Jeffery Hicks Try your hand at using the new set of backup tools with Windows Server 2008 R2. We start with installing the new backup features and walk through creating a backup job. Then see how to restore data using the Recovery Wizard, and use the WBADMIN.EXE and Windows PowerShell command line tools for creating backup jobs.

Getting ready for Windows 7 may seem like a Herculean job—but there are plenty of ways to maximize the OS’s new features while minimizing disruptions in your organization. This offer spells out 10 steps that can help streamline your efforts and smooth the transition. Bill Boswell

Explore the new and updated Group Policy features in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. System administrators will find plenty of goodies, from new Windows PowerShell functionality to updated power options, task scheduling and software restriction policies. Jeremy Moskowitz

Whether you’re upgrading from Vista or skipping it altogether and moving up from Windows XP, you’ll need to know how to make the most of Windows 7 in your environment. Here are 77 tips and tricks to get you there. Edited by Keith Ward